Index or file



July 1-9, 1932. .c. s. YCAMPBELL ET AL 1,368,477

INDEX OR FILE Filed March 9. 1922 3 Sheets+Sheet l July 19, 1932- c. sv CAMPBELL ET AL 1,868,477

INDEX OR FILE Filed March 9. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 19, 1932.

c. s. CAMPBELL ET AL Filed March 9. 1922 INDEX OR FILE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 James He'm'y S. 48Hawthmm St.

-Patented July 19, 1932 1 CHARLES S. CAMPBELL, OF NEW HAVEN, AND

V vi'de an index or file cabinet UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM H. DAY, OF EAST HAVEN, CON

NECTICUT, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO REMINGTON RAND ING, OI NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE INDEX OR FILE Application filed March 9,

This invention relates to indexes or files and also to a cabinet adapted to receive and support record carrying members in such a manner that they will be readily accessible to the user thereof.

While our invention is capable of use in many relations and in connection with vari ous lines of business, it is perhaps particularly suited to the use of an information operator at a telephone central station. The operator, in order to supply the patrons with subscribers numbers which are not listed in the published directory must have quick and ready access to a large number of names arranged, of course, in alphabetical, geographical or numerical orderso that'any name can be readily found. Moreover, in the usual telephone station it is common and ordinary practice to have the information desks so arranged that an operator sits at each side thereof, the two operators facing each other. It is therefore desirable to so make the index, file or record cabinet that it will be equally accessible to the operators at either side of the desk so that it will be unnecessary to duplicate the device for each operator.

In the past, revolving or swinging file cabinets have sometimes been used, but in this case one-half of the leaves or record carrying members normally face each operator and the cabinet must be revolved if access to the other half is'required. It is very common, therefore, for both operators to desire. access to the same half of the leaves of the cabinet at the same time, and there'isthus a great deal of interference with each others work if two or more attempt to use the same file.

One object of our invention, therefore, is to overcome the disadvantages mentioned above and to provide an index fiile or record carrying cabinet which shall be equally accessible to users at either side thereof and in the use of which the chance for two or more operators havingne'ed for the same leaf or carrying memberis reduced to a minimum.

Another object of our invention is to prohaving sliding leaves which may be withdrawn to an exposed position from either end of the cabinet.

Another object of our invention is to pro- 1922. Serial No. 542,454.

videan index or file cabinet with leaves so mounted that they may be withdrawn from the cabinet to an exposed position and thereafter swung to the proper angle for the user to view the data upon the leaf.

. Another object of our invention is to provide a record or file cabinet of the character described, wherein the leaves will be slidable in pairs to an exposed position from either side thereof, and thereafter will be capable of being swung relatively to the cabinet in a manner similar to the backs of a book, to expose the material carried, in this case, upon the opposing faces thereof. lVhile the leaves may be freely withdrawn to the swinging position from either side of the cabinet, they will at the same time be normally prevented from entire withdrawal therefrom.

Another object of our invention is to provide a record or file cabinet of the character described, with means for permitting the entire withdrawal of. the leaves from the cabinet when such is desired for any purpose.

In general, our invention contemplates the provision of a novel and highly eflicient index or file capable of carrying a large quantity of data and information which shall be in compact form and readily accessible to the user.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an index or file cabinet embodying our invention, mounted in proper position upon a desk of the type ordinarily used by the information operator at a telephone central station;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of our improved index or file;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front elevational view, similar to Fig. 1, a pair of the leaves being shown in their withdrawn swinging position;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of F 3;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of of the record carrying members adapted to be used with our improved file.

In the preferred embodiment of our invention shown in the drawings, we have illustrated at 10 a portion of a desk such as customarily used by the information operators at a-telephone central stationhavin g the usual turret 11 extending lengthwise thereof. 20

At the sides of thef desk are stools 12 upon which the operators sit, facing the desk.

'While the shape of our improved file cabinet is not of importance in all aspects of the invention and many variations may be resorted to in this respect, wehave chosen to show a cabinet in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a top 13, bottom 14 and sides 15 and 16. The two. ends of thelcabinet are', in this instance left open to permit of the leaves sliding in and out at either end thereof. At the lnner faces of the top and bottom members, there are provided plates,

' 17 and 18 formed with vertically projecting ridges or partitions '19 and 20 to provide channels or guideways 20 extendinglongltudinally of the cabinet in which'the leaves or record carrying holders'are adapted to slide. The members 17 and 18 may be formed in any manner desired and it may not aldesirable for theridges ways be necessary or 19: and 20 to extend the entire length, of the cabinet, although, as shown more especially in Figs. 7 and 8, they are so arranged in the particular embodiment of our invention shown in the drawings.

. In the form of our invention. shown in the "drawings, the cards or freference-fcarrying members are, adaptedto be mounted upon one] side only of the leaves,

although some variation may be resorted to in this respect, if desir'ethand the leaves or holders arranged to have therecord members mounted upon bothsides thereof. The holders, designated as a whole by the preferred form and consist, as shown, I

per and lower framemembers or runners 22,

numera-l'21, may be of any of up eachpair of'which are provided with cutaway potions or recesses 23 upon theremote sides thereof in which lie the leaves24, which frame member 22, upon the outside of the. leaf and rivets passed through this strip and theleaf 24 into the frame member weprefer to construct of light sheet metal or similar material. 7 As shownin Fig.- 10,

a small strip 2 f may be secured to each any interference hinged to the cabinet to such an the parts securely together. In order to stiffen the edges of the leaves, a rod or wire 25 is enclosed within a loop 26 of the leaf proper. It will be noted that when constructed in this manner, the leaves will be arranged inpairs so that the two opposing faces upon which the record members are adapted to be carried will be spaced farther apart than the opposing backs which do not carry record members.

Any suitable means may be secured to the faces of'the leaves to carry therecord members, depending on the particular kind of the latter that is used. In the form shown, we have employed the flangestrips 27 which may be securedto the leaf by riveting or other suitable'means, and which are provided with the offset and laterally projecting flanges 27 to receive the tongues 27 of the record members 27, whereby the latter may be properly mounted upon the holders.

While'any desired number. of the "record holding stripsl27 may beprovided upon the leaves, depending upon the dimensions of the record members used, we have shown three of such strips upon each-leaf so that three columns of the record members will be carriedthereby.

It will .be notedthat the particular record members shown project,'to some extent, from the face of the leaf, and it is therefore desirable to have the opposing faces of the leaves spaced apart to a sufiicient extent to avoid between the record members carried'by adjacent leaves. It will,

moreover, be found desirable to arrange the leaves to operate in pairs or, in other words, to arrange two leaves with opposing-faces to movein-andout. of-the frame as a unit, aswill be .more fully described hereinafter. At" each of the four corners of the leaf there are pivoted to theframe members or runners, hinge members, the upper two of which are designated by the numeral the lower two by thenumeral 31. These hinge members are swingingly. secured or frame members 22 by means of the pivot pins'32, the 'hingemembers being bifurcated at '33 to fit over a projecting lug 3% at the corresponding end of the frame member. It will be apparent that when one of the leaves is slidably withdrawn from the I extent thatv only the hinge members 30 and 31 are engaged in the channel guideways 20, the leaf will then be free to swing aboutv the hinge pins 32 relatively to the hinge members 30 andgl that remain engaged in the channels and relativelyto the cabinet. The user'of the device may thus haveready access to the cards carried'between the pair of leaves comprising the unit and upon the opposing faces thereof. I,

In order to providemeans for normally 30 and we have mounted inthe upper and lower portions 13 and 14 of the cabinet, detents 35.

.5 Four detents are provided for each leaf, one

adjacent each corner thereof, each detent comprising a stem 36 mounted in an opening in..a guide 37 and surrounded by a spiral spring 38 which normally urges it to an extended position. One end of the spring reacts against the guide 37 while the opposite end acts against an enlarged head 39 upon the stem, which carries at the opposite side a beveled stop or latch member 40. The stop portions 40 of the detents are adapted to project through openings 41 in the bottoms of the guide channels 20 and to contact with the frame members 22or hinges 30 and3'1 during the operation of the leaf.

The upper face of the upper frame member 22 and the lower face of the lower frame member are provided with grooves or channels 42, which channels, are also extended upon the hinge members 30 and 31 and ter minate in the shoulders 43. As shown in Fig. 6, when a leaf is withdrawn, the detents, operated by the springs 38, will be projected into the grooves 42 of the frame members, the square face of the stop members engaging the shoulders 43 and preventing further withdrawal of the leaf. The leaf in this position is now free to be swung about the hinge pin 32 or is, of course, free to be pushed back into the cabinet again.

In order to permit the complete withdrawal of any pair of the leaves from the cabinet when it is desired to change the record members or to mount a number of new members thereon, each of the detents at the top of the cabinet is provided with a small manipulating button 45, the stem 46 of which projects outwardly through a slot 47 at the front of the cabinet. By pushing upwardly upon a pair of the buttons 45 which control the detents engaging the pair of leaves which it is desired to withdraw from the cabinet, the latches or stop members 40 of the detents may be withdrawn from engagement with the shoulders 43 upon the hinge members and the leaves may then be freely and completely withdrawn from the cabinet. It will be understood that these buttons may, of course, be provided upon the lower detent members, if desired, or upon both upper and lower members, if that is found to be expedient. In practice, however, it has been determined that it is only necessary to disengage one "of the detents from the corresponding shoulder 43 of the hinge member to remove the leaf from the cabinet. It will, of course, be seldom necessary to remove the leaves from the cabinet, but their removal is desirable at certain times, particularly when making changes in the record members carried by the leaves. When a. leaf has been withdrawn from the cabinet to swinging position, if the operator, upon attempting to swing it, applies a slight pressure thereto in a longitudinal direction, there might be tendency for the leaf to slide back within the cabinet. To overcome any such tendency, the lower hinge members 31 are slightly cut away at the under faces thereof to provide the shoulders 50. When the leaf is withdrawn to swinging position, this shoulder is arranged to clear the edge of the member 18 when the detents engage the shoulders 43. The engagement of this shoulder with the edge of the member 18 will tend to prevent the pushing of the leaf back into the cabinet. When, however, it is desired to replace the leaf therein to its normal position, it will only be necessary to raise it slightly and the shoulder will be disengaged and the leaf will slide freely to the proper position. In order that the leaves may be joined together in pairs, designed to be operated as a unit, the hinge members 30 of one leaf are provided with pins having small projecting cone shaped heads 56. At the base of the head may be provided a small circular annular shoulder 57 approximately the thick ness of one of the partitions 19. The opposing faces of the hinge members of the companion leaves are provided with correspondingly shaped recesses 58 which are adapted, when the leaves are swung into parallel positions, as shown in Fig. 7, to receive the cone shaped heads 56 of the pins secured in the hinge members of the other leaf and connect the two leaves for movement together. hen the leaves have been withdrawn from the cabinet and are swung apart to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7 there might be a tendency for the hinge members to swing inwardly toward the opposite leaf and thus preventthe proper closing of the leaves into a parallel position which must be occupied by them if they are to be replaced in the cabinet. To prevent any such tendency, the shoulders of the'hinge members 30 at the inner corners thereof are squared as at 59, to abut against the square ends 60 of the frame members 22 to prevent any swinging about the hinge pins 32, except in one direction.

In order that the leaves, when replaced in the cabinet after having been'used. will always come to rest at'the proper position without great care being taken to position them, we have provided the V-shaped notches 51 in the engaging faces of each of the hinge members 30 and 31. As shown more particularly in Fig. 5, when the leaf comes to a position of rest within the cabinet, the detents will be engaged in these notches. It will be noted that, owing to the shape of the'notches. the detents will be cammed out of engagement therewith, regardless of the direction in which the leaf is moved from its position of rest. It will alsobeapparent that it is quite important to have the leaves so positioned by' this or other means as,when'a leaf is pushed back intojthe cabinet, if it should remainin, a projecting position from-either side, it would seriously interfere with the swinging of the adjacent leaves when in use. It will also be apparent that while we have shown our file cabinet as mounted upon a turret, it would operate equally well upon a flat top table ordesk as, owing. to the thickness of the hollow bottom portion 14., the leaves are carried at aconsiderable distance above the support, as clearly shown in Figs. 1,4Land6, V

. Pivoted at 52 to projecting tabs 52 upon one each of the pairs of leaves constituting one of the units, are handles or finger pulls a by which the leaves may be manipulated.

A small plate 54' bearing index letters or numbers to" indicate the material 7 carried within that particular unit may be secured to these handles," g V The operation ofour' device is as follows.

\Vith the leaves in the cabinet in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the operator, upon desiring to look at the data carried upon any one of the leaves, grasps the finger pull 53, and due to the connection between this leaf andits companion, apair of leaves forming one of the units will be slidably withdrawn from the cabinet. The pair of leaves will be withdrawn to the position shown in Fig. 6 where they will be stopped by the latches 40engaging the shoulders 43; The leaves at this time drop slightly so that the small shoulders engage the front'edgeof the member 18 to hold that in the proper position. Either leaf may now be swung outwardly about its hinge or pivot to the desired position to expose the material carried upon the inner face thereof. To replace the unit,

. the operator swings the two leaves together aligned with the guide channels so that they so that the pin heads 56 willbe received in the recesses 58, and due to the square shoulders 59 and 60, the leaves will be properly willnowslide freely back into thecabinet and come" to a position of rest whenj-the detcnts engage'in the notches 51, as shown in Fig. 5. It will, of course, be obvious, that the leaves are equally accessible from either end of the cabinet and enjoy the same free dom of removal and of swinging about their hinges, regardless of the side of the cabinet from which they are withdrawn. I

While we have shown and described a pre ferred embodiment of our invention, it will .;be obvious that it is not limited thereto'in ofthe, appended claims all of its 'details, bu't is capable of many modi fications'andvariations which lie within the spirit. of the invention and within the scope VVhat'weclaim is:' j '1. An index comprisinga cabinet open at both ends, index 'holders in said cabinet,

means permitting said holders to be moved freely into and out 'of the cabinet from either end of the latter, supports'hinged to opposite edges of the holders and having sliding engagement with said cabinet, and interengaging means on pairs of adjacent holders operative in the parallel relation of the holders for insuring simultaneous movement thereof from either end of the cabinet and permitting relativepivotal movement when supported out of the cabinet.

2. An index comprising a'cabinet open at both ends, index holders mounted in the caba 3. An index comprising a cabinet, index.

holders in said cabinet-,5 means permitting said holders to be moved; freely into and out of the cabinet from opposite faces thereof, supports hinged to the holders and having sliding engagement with elements of the cabinet, and means on the opposed facesof certain of'said supports to connect them and the leaves attached thereto formove'ment togetherin pairs. r

4. In an index or file, a cabinet, said cabinet being provided with guideways at the top and bottom thereof, anindex holder individually mounted in each of the guideways for sliding movement into'and out-of the cabinet, hinge members secured to the edges of the holders to permit them to'swing relatively to the cabinet,and interengaging means on said hinge members to connect certain of said holders for movement together to exposed and stored positions from either side of the cabinet. V V

' 5. .In an index or file, a cabinet, a plurality of independent indexll holders mounted side byside therein andhaving inter-engaging complementary parts, means permitting said holders to; move into and out of the cabinet from either end face thereof, means connectingsaid holders to the cabinet for independent swinging movement relatively thereto when withdrawn therefromineither direction, said parts permitting independent disengagement of the holders from the cabi net. i

6. In an index or file, a cabinet, a plurality of index holders mounted side by side therein and connected together, means permitting said holders to move into and out of the cabinet from either end facejthereof, supports hinged to opposite edges -of the holdersand connecting said holderswith the cabinet for swinging movement relatively thereto when withdrawn therefrom in either direction, said supports being disengageable from the cabinet to permit the holders to be completely detached therefrom. 7. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a plurality of leaves slidably mounted therein to move freely to exposed position from either end face thereof, hinged members connected to opposite edges of the leaves toconnect the leaves to the cabinet for swinging movement when withdrawn to exposed position, means connecting certain of said hinged members together to cause the corresponding leaves to move simultaneously to exposed position without the cabinet in either direction, said connecting means being held in operative position by elements of the cabinet, but being free for disengagement when withdrawn from either end face of the cabinet.

8. In a device of the character described, a cabinet, a plurality of leaves slidably mounted side by side therein to move to an exposed position from either end face thereof, means connecting adjacent leaves together to move simultaneously to exposed position in either V of two opposite directions, said connecting means being held in operative position by elements of the cabinet but being free for disengagement when Withdrawn from eitherend face of the cabinet.

9. In a device of the character described, a casing, a book-like unit therein, means slidably mounting said unit within the casing W for movement in opposite directions to withdrawn position from either end face thereof, said unit comprising a plurality of leaves, and means to permit the leaves to swing about an axis adjacent the inner edge thereof when 4 moved to exposed position Without the casing in either direction.

10. In an index or file, a cabinet, said cabinet being provided with guideways at the top and bottom thereof, an index holder individually mounted in each of the guideways for sliding movement into and out of the cabinet, means connecting a pair of said holders for movement together into stored position and into exposed positions from either side of r the cabinet, and means supporting the holders to swing relatively to the cabinet and each other when in exposed position.

11. In an index or file, a cabinet having an open end face, upper and lower frame members slidable in the cabinet, a leaf secured to the central portions of said frame members and slidable therewith in the cabinet, and means cooperating with the frame members to normally prevent detachment thereof from 60 the cabinet.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this 8th day of March, 1922.

5 CHARLES s. CAMPBELL. WILLIAM H. DAY. 

